Bonus
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But what were they saying? (The Nightmare)
There are few Russian dialogues in this story. We won’t translate it all—we have to maintain the story’s magic after all—but here is an essential segment.
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Dealing with serious topics with a light touch
In September 2011, Ed Campbell commented on an issue of Catwoman that had a panel with an explicitly sexual scene between the heroine and Batman (“Let’s Talk about Sex,” www.comicbookdaily.com, September 30, 2011). Campbell felt this was inappropriate for a teen-rated comic. Over the next few months, many others weighed in and some felt that explicit sexual content was one of the reasons for the marginalization of comic books in the U.S. (“Sex & Violence,” www.comicbookdaily.com, December 9, 2011).
We disagree. That’s why we don’t make our stories detour around scenes with sexual content. We believe these scenes help drive the dramatic aspects of the stories. However, we also don’t believe our comic is aimed at young teens—not because of this sexual dimension, but rather because of narrative complexity.
And we are also set on not turning our heroines into idealized sexual objects (“Art and Superheroines: When Over-Sexualization Kills the Story,” www.comicsalliance.com, February 16, 2012).
It’s one thing for characters to have a sexuality, but the treatment of certain related subjects can go wrong. Corey Schroeder spoke out against such a situation: “when Mockingbird was allegedly sexually assaulted by Phantom Rider, Hawkeye, her husband-to-be’s, reaction was to blame HER. You know, THE VICTIM” (“Are Superhero Comics Too Serious,” www.comicvine.com, September 14, 2011). Some topics deserve to be treated with tact. However, this can also become a dramatic turning point if all the implications are developed.
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References in “Night Cargo”
The French title comes from a song recorded by Axel Bauer in the mid-80s. This story wasn’t anticipated. It came to us when we saw photos of the shipwreck of the Rena off New Zealand in 2011. Week by week, the boat sank progressively more. Some of the photos had such dramatic intensity that “Night Cargo” simply took shape on its own. It also provided an opportunity to introduce Deathblow to the Black Orchestra team.
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But what were they saying? (The Big Move)
There is a lot of Russian dialogue in this story. We won’t translate it all—we have to maintain the story’s magic after all—but here is an essential segment.
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Comics and Movie – Inter-Connections Between Two Art Forms
Anthony Falcone had a great way of saying that comics are an inexpensive form of entertainment to produce: “comics are sort of book-movies” (“Why I Like Comic Books,” www.comicbookdaily.com, January 31, 2012). It’s true that comics are not restricted by budgetary constraints that might limit the number of characters or the location. And the author can use any type of special effect—even the most outrageous—without it costing an arm and a leg. Just remember that Rodriguez said that Frank Miller’s Sin City comic was more than a source of inspiration for the film, it was the storyboard for its development.
Now that superhero movies have a choice standing, they don’t seem to draw their inspiration only from the characters but also from the narrative styles of comics. In a critique of The Dark Knight Rises, J. Calab Mazzocco said, “Intentionally or not, The Dark Knight Rises also seemed to mimic one aspect of reading superhero comics, serial storytelling. I occasionally found myself wondering how all the callbacks to the previous films might sit with someone who never saw those, or only saw one of them but not the other” (“ComicsAlliance Staff Reactions to The Dark Knigth Rises,” www.comicsalliance.com, July 23, 2012).
